Delta students protest Donald Trump in hope to unify

On Nov. 8, Donald Trump shook the world when he was elected president. On Nov. 9, Americans of all ages shook the ground as they marched through the busy streets of cities, signs and posters in hand, united, banded together against their new president-elect.

Anti-Trump rallies and protests have been seen all over the United States.

On Nov. 17 Delta College saw its first anti-Trump protest.

“We simply think that Donald Trump doesn’t represent the values that most of the younger people around the country believe and hold,” said Rina Singh, one of the students in charge of the protest. “At Delta College, we are not seeing a lot of unity and we are not seeing people coming together to talk and discuss about the political issues at the moment. And with this protest …we’re trying to build that community … to unify people on campus.”

The protest started in front of the library, small at first but gradually growing in size.

The protesters attracted quite a crowd, some even joined in the protest itself.

“At first I was sad, but now I hope that he follows through with what he wants to do,” said protester Antonio Gomez. “I hope he does make changes that people in the establishment wouldn’t want to make. I hope he brings jobs back to the people who voted for him, I hope he figures out what he’s doing. I hope that he does a good job because he’s our next president.”

As the march started, the protesters chanted, “Not my President” as they marched through the quad to the front of the school.

“The purpose of our protest is to not push hate, but a united nation, basically to unite people together to push against hate and to bring other people together, as a country,” said Nathaniel Vutthy, another student who helped plan the protest.

The march continued all the way around the block, sticking to the sidewalk and going from Target, to the College Square to America’s Tire.

“He’s xenophobic, he’s racist and sexist..his rhetoric doesn’t show leadership, in my opinion. He’s setting an example for so many people and we’re supposed to look to him for leadership and he doesn’t make me feel like I want to live here,” said Joslynn Howard, a protester who traveled all the way from University of the Pacific to participate, along with friend and fellow Pacific student Kelly Lootz.

Howard and Lootz were the ones who led the march around the block.

“I just think he’s used some pretty dangerous rhetoric throughout the majority of his campaign. And it’s creating a space that is unsafe for a lot of people,” said Lootz. “Ideally, I mean, I’m protesting to fight for a change and to see if we can change the way our system currently works. Hillary did win the popular vote, Trump won the electoral college, so it’s very apparent that the masses don’t want Trump in office and so I think by protesting, we’re going to be able to have our voices heard and hopefully create that change.”

The march lasted about an hour and had supporters, people cheering them on and cars honking their horn in support of the protesters.

Behind the protest, campus security followed along just in case the protest took a wrong turn.

The protest, however, did no such thing.

“The students did a really good job,” said CSO Campus security officer Susan McAnelly. “They obeyed all the laws, they got a lot of support from people going by.”

This has been the only anti-Trump march on campus, and there’s no word on another.

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The Collegian is the student newspaper of San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Calif. The paper is published six times a semester in the fall and spring.

As a First Amendment newspaper we pride ourselves on a commitment to the students of Delta College while maintaining independence. We reinvigorate the credo that the newspaper speaks for the students, checks abuses of power and stands vigilant in the protection of democracy and free speech.